---
title: Setting up
description: How to set up Hollo.
---

import { Aside, Steps } from "@astrojs/starlight/components";

<Aside type="caution" title="Watch out!">
  Before you start setting up Hollo, you need to decide on a domain name, and
  the domain name must be set up and pointing to your server.  This is because
  you can't change your domain name once Hollo is set up.
</Aside>

After you've installed Hollo, you need to set it up.  This guide will walk you
through the process of setting up Hollo on your server.

<Steps>
 1. Go to **https://<var>yourdomain</var>/setup** where <var>yourdomain</var> is
    your domain name.

 2. Set up your login credentials.

    ![Set up your login credentials](./setup/setup.png)

 3. You'll see the empty *Accounts* page.  Click the *Create a new account*
    button.

    ![Empty accounts page](./setup/accounts-empty.png)

 4. Fill out the form to create your account.  All fields except for the
    *Username* field can be changed later.

    ![Create a new account](./setup/create-account.png)

 5. After you've created your account, you'll see the *Accounts* page with your
    account listed.

    ![Accounts page](./setup/accounts.png)

 6. Since Hollo is headless, you'll need to use a Mastodon-compatible client app
    like [Phanpy] to interact with it.  Here we use Phanpy as an example.

    Go to **https://phanpy.social/** and click *Log in with Mastodon* button
    to start logging in.

 7. Enter your Hollo domain name and click *Continue*.

    ![Phanpy](./setup/phanpy-login.png)

 8. At this point, you may be asked to sign in to your Hollo account.  Enter
    your username and password and click *Sign in*.

    If you're not asked to sign in, skip to the next step.

 9. You'll see the *Authorize Phanpy* page.  Click *Allow* to authorize Phanpy
    to access your Hollo account.

    ![Authorize Phanpy](./setup/authorize.png)

10. That's it!  You're now logged in to your Hollo account using Phanpy.

    The timeline will be empty at first, but you can start posting and
    following other users.  If you want to follow the official Hollo account,
    search for `@hollo@hollo.social` and click the *Follow* button in the
    profile page.

    Enojoy!

    ![Phanpy](./setup/phanpy.png)

[Phanpy]: https://phanpy.social/
</Steps>
